No - I think he meant he games for a living - - lol


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http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2972023/A_Haiti_pic_or_two.html#Post2972023

Oh snap!

Heh, you said DoDo

Heya Gator, I had no idea you did that for a living. I need to pay more attention.

S!

I was wondering if anyone would catch that.

Thanks for the publicity, Fatty. And for what it's worth, I always enjoy your missions w/ the aviation element. Great mission design and fun to play, on the ground or in the air.

Thats cool, and much respect... seriously... but really, I know I'm old school, cold war trained... but you can't tell me the new tactic is for a thin skinned bird to fly over the kill zone over and over... I was watching, you were being engaged and smoking from the hits on each run... it's not the fact that it's "my house", it's the fact I was squad leader. Not trying to be controversial with you, just really want to know... that is the tactic for a scout, little bird now?

There seem to be two chief problems with using the AH-6 as a stand-off platform. First, the AH-6's weapons are on fixed mounts, so the aircraft has to be moved to aim them, making it difficult to remain stationary. Second, the cockpit is big and unarmoured, with the pilot's body almost fully exposed to the enemy. Incoming fire therefore has a good chance of striking the crew, especially when the AH-6 is oriented towards the enemy.

Reading a little bit about GOTHIC SERPENT, it seems that AH-6s were (are?) mostly employed for quick hit-and-run strikes, exploiting the AH-6's great speed and manoeuvrability to make fast gun runs at street level, avoiding small arms fire or at least absorbing it in non-essential areas.

@Magnum,

I think what Fatty says above is really the issue. You are absolutely right...a scout shouldn't be in the middle of the tracers. But the AH-6 (as modeled in Arma2) doesn't have the sensors to be as helpful as I think you were hoping. The trade-off, at least as I perceive it, is to make a run-in at high speed, lay down a large amount of suppressive fire (w/ the mini-guns) and then egress. Maybe it was one of those times when the game engine smiles upon the brave, because I didn't really take much damage despite what you may have seen. But standing still and scouting could result in one well-placed bullet into the bubble and the pilot knocked out of play.

What I find amusing is that the previous mission, where you used the well-armored Apache to scout, as it was designed to do, resulted in you getting shot down. I'm not saying that's the wrong play for that particular platform, just amusing when you consider the balsa and tissue paper construction that is the MD-500 (compared to the Apache).

As for you being the Squad leader...you're right. I know the general ROE here is that the SL makes the call, period. Right or wrong, it's just different in the aviation community where the aircraft commander has the final say on what happens to his aircraft. So I apologize for not following the local ROE. I don't agree w/ the decision, but I understand that's not necessarily the point. And for what it's worth, that's why I posted the AAR in another thread. Just to give some perspective. I certainly plan to continue playing w/ a great group of people next Monday as long as I'm still welcome (and as long as they don't send me to the boat...which I'm hearing rumblings about).



Just a quick follow up... I'm not an Army Scout pilot, so I don't know what their tactics are. And if I was, I probably wouldn't discuss much of them here. But generally, as a helo, your one major defense against small arms is energy, which usually comes from speed. Unless you have really well trained gunners, optically guided munitions are going to be defeated by energy and changing the three dimensional picture rapidly (jinking). You can usually pull that off in Arma2 as long as you have speed.

Thanks also gator, glad you enjoy those missions. Been trying to incorporate helos a bit more into new missions. Any feedback is always appreciated.

Fatty, about the heli in that new hostage mission. I noticed last SEAM that as a pilot there was no option to switch to the AI gunner position, so the AI takes over the pilot controle(auto hover). Is there a way to manage that in cause you flying without a human gunner? Thinking about it..is this switching posible in a MP game?

Would be great!